Socks
by Zander L. Jones
Summary: When things return to normal the summer right after the Battle, things begin to get weird. When a slew of house elves show up at the Burrow, each baring a single sock each, Harry & Co. realize life will never stay just 'normal' for them. H/G. Two-Shot.
1. Chapter 1

It had been just over two months since the Battle of Hogwarts had come to an end. The funerals seemed to stretch on for weeks after that, the sorrow that lingered, even longer. At first, Harry was numb and he eventually learned to be grateful for that when it had all come crashing down on him. The golden trio returned to the Burrow after shortly staying at Hogwarts after the battle. Even though Harry was somewhere he had always felt safe and loved, it was only a mild comfort to him as he dealt with the raw emotions of grief and guilt that seemed to slowly eat his soul, turning and twisting it.

That had all changed with the support of Ginny. Now lying under the willow tree in the backyard of the Burrow, their hands were intertwined. Ginny had her head resting on Harry's chest, was lazily dozing off to soft pitter-patter of Harry's heartbeat, which she was eternally thankful for.

"Ginny?" Harry asked softly, seeing if he love was still awake.

"Hmm?" She mumbled.

"I love you." He whispered for the hundredth time that summer, running his hands through the fiery red hair that he loved just as much as the girl who owned it.

Ginny raised her head and looked directly into Harry's blazing green eyes that had finally started to regain some sparkle, some life. She reached up and placed her lips delicately on his. Their kiss, at first soft and tender, turned compassionate after a moment. They both finally broke away, sighing contentedly.

"I love you too." She said, smiling even wider at the sight of his own smile that she had placed upon his face. She scooted back down so that she could snuggle into his side when they were interrupted.

"Oi! You better get in here!" Ron's voice carried to their spot by the trees. After almost ten years, Harry was able to discern the unsaid meanings in Ron's voice. He was tense enough to get Harry to quickly scoot away from Ginny out of instinct, but his voice also told him he had better come quickly.

After Ron had disappeared back into the Burrow, Harry stood, pulling Ginny with him. He smiled when she hadn't let go of his hand after he pulled her up. They entered through the open backdoor that lead right into the kitchen. The majority of the Weasley's were either sitting or standing around the table. Not seeing any food in front of them, told Harry this gathering wasn't just a shared meal.

He slowly started to relax when he saw that no one's faces were tensed or grim. In fact, most of them had a gaze of curiosity or confusion. "What is it?" He asked them, starting to become curious himself.

"Well, Harry, this…this came for you?" Hermione said, her statement tapering off into a questioning look. She walked over carefully scooted an opened package down the table towards him.

"Who opened it?" He asked, as he opened the wrappings that had fallen flat onto the object itself. A single black sock lay on the table in front of him. "Better yet, whose it from?"

The head of the family begun to speak. "To the first, I opened it. I felt as though you would appreciate a bit of screening for your parcels seeing as many Death Eaters are still about. I was able to cast a few spells without opening the package itself but couldn't only cast certain identifying spells on the object. It has no dark signature, nor is it a portkey."

"Well that's good." Harry mumbled, still as confused as he was earlier, but a bit more relieved.

"As to the second question", George piped up, "we were hoping you could answer that mate."

Deciding it was safe, Harry slowly went to pick up the sock. He felt Ginny's hand tighten ever so softly around his own. He looked over and smiled reassuringly. He continued on and picked up the sock without another moment's hesitation. He took it with his one open hand and examined it. It looked like an ordinary sock

Nothing happened.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Ron stated lazily. Everyone seemed to let out the breath they all didn't know they were holding.

"Mum, who delivered it?" Ginny piped up as her mother rose from the table to start dinner.

" Actually, it was a house elf. Odd that." She mused, swishing her wand at the pantry.

Harry looked up at that. "A house elf? Who? Did they leave their name?"

"Nope, I had never seen—" Before she could even finish her statement, a loud crack filled the air.

The entire family turned towards the living room where the sound originated from. They all had their wands in hand as they rushed towards it. Harry and Ginny had broken apart but were the first to enter the room. They stood their frozen for a second, their wands trained on a familiar wide-eyed house.

"Winky?" Hermione asked as she appeared in the room. The poor elf was frozen in fear from the 7 wands pointed at her. "Winky, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked softly, putting her wand away and stepping towards Winky who had a package in her hand. "Did you come to deliver that?" She continued until Winky finally looked at her. The house elf nodded ever so slightly and seeming to gather all the courage she had walked over to Ron and lifted the package up to him.

They would have all laughed at the face Ron made if the situation hadn't been so bizarre. While Hermione and Ron spelled to package, Harry continued with the questions, gently approaching the elf as though she may scamper off at a moment's notice.

"Winky…did you deliver the other package as well?" He started nice and easy.

"No." Winky sniffled.

"Who did?"

"Carly. She works in the kitchens at Hogwarts too. I must be going now." Without another word Winky had disapperated back to wherever she had come from, probably Hogwarts Harry guessed.

"Odd. Quite odd." Hermione surmised. "The sock Ron received was just as harmless as yours Harry. Although it had a gold pattern on it. I'll look into seeing if there's a way to locate where they had both originated from." And with that she ran up to her room to immerse herself in the world of literature.

"Don't be too long dear!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs after her. "Dinner will be ready soon!" The rest of the evening continued on, unperturbed by any more events.

Over the next few days the Burrow was chaos. House elves were apperating constantly without fail, one after the other and sometimes even multiples at the same time, each of them bringing a single sock addressed either to Harry Potter or Ron Weasley.

The situation was quite intriguing at first, with house elves popping up and scaring the day lights out of everyone at least once. After that stage had passed, it turned into downright annoyance. No one could go two sentences in conversation before a house elf popped into the conversation, literally.

Another problem the boys were having was where to keep their "gifts". A sock or two lying around was nothing, but a quick spell had revealed they were now up to nearly a thousand. After the first few days Harry and Ron had turned to Hermione for a solution.

She sighed slightly at always being the one to have the answers, but really, she did enjoy it. She ingeniously came up with a very simple solution. A shrinking spell.

After practicing for a couple of hours, there was now a layer of socks covering almost every surface of the Burrow.

"Seriously mate, once you get over the oddness of it all, it's a bit gross." Ron said conversationally as he and Harry had begun cleaning up the living area.

"Well, at least they don't smell."

"Maybe…its still barmy though."

They continued cleaning the house, area by area and noticed that the house elves weren't coming in such quick succession any more. They ended up assuming it was a prank that George had yet to claim account for, although they still had some suspicions seeing as he was _so_ adamantly denying it.

They went to bed that night, all drifting to sleep thinking of their own theories. Little did they know, they were to find the answer the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

***I got this entire idea from a prompt on Tumblr! So: NOT my idea, just my own creative expressions. I do hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I enjoyed writing and reading "The Last Stand" better than this but, I don't hate it so that's good! Please review; it will only make me a better writer for you all!**

After being awakened by the girls in the morning, Ron and Harry trudged down to breakfast. They took their normal seat just diagonal of each other while the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione took their spots as well.

The normal morning conversation ensued: what everyone had planned for the day, the Ministry and its attempts to regain control, and so on. Ron was just stuffing four bangers in his mouth as he started to make conversation with Hermione. "'ere are 'yer 'ans ohm 'ay?"

Hermione took a moment to calm the repugnant look that had escaped to her face. "Really Ronald, after how many years of us telling you to chew first then speak? And my plans for the day are to research a bit more about the socks."

"Speaking of which, has there been any delivered this morning?" Harry piped up, careful to clear his mouth before speaking.

"Actually no there hasn't been any dear." Mrs. Weasley added, spreading marmalade on a piece of toast.

"If you ask me, someone is playing a mad trick on you. And I for one would love to speak with whoever it may be. Brilliant getting house elves to do deliver a prank!" George sat up, smiling more in the last couple of days than all summer. He received a scathing look from Hermione so he didn't continue his discussion…out loud at least.

"Maybe it's done then?" Harry said, more like a question hanging in the air to the universe.

A loud crack which the family had grew accustomed to, presented one final elf in the already full Burrow kitchen.

"Kreacher!" The golden trio sat still for a moment, memories flooding their thoughts. After they had left Grimmauld Place last August they had only seen Kreacher twice. Harry instinctively stood up and went to greet his house elf, feeling slightly guilty he hadn't thought of him more since the Battle.

"Massster. Kreacher has a gift." He slowly came closer to Harry, and handed him a small parcel. What wasn't as expected was him appearing next to Ron and handing him one as well. Ron could have sworn he heard Kreacher mumble something but thought it better to let it go.

"I wonder what those could be." Ginny huffed, slightly rolling her eyes with a playful smile on her face. The rest of the Weasley's attention slowly went back to their breakfast.

"Kreacher, who are these from?" Harry pointedly asked, holding up the still sealed package.

"Master must open it. Your answers are within, Sir." Kreacher bowed, his nose almost touching the floor and disapperated with a loud "Crack!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other, both attune to what the other was thinking. Harry sat back down next to Ginny and the boys opened their package at the same time. They both had a single black sock. But there was parchment that had accompanied it. But Harry was intrigued by what felt like the final sock. Most socks look the same, but for some reason this black sock, with a few rips in it and a tiny Gryffindor Hippogriff on the ankle seemed familiar.

"Mate, read the letter." Ron's solemn voice brought him back from his thoughts. He looked up and Hermione had tears in her eyes, Ron looking a little older than he was.

Harry picked up the parchment with tiny scrawl on it. It had a big and bit untidy "Harry Potter" on the top.

 _"Harry Potter Sir,_

 _I am a free elf. I am free so I could make a William, or what Winky has told me, a Will. I knows Master will always be there to help others like he has helped me. Sir, you have gave me this sock outside of Headmaster's office many years ago. If I perish, I have left my possessions to Harry Potter and his Weezy._

 _Goodbye Sir,_

 _Dobby, a free elf"_

Harry looked up with blurred vision to see the rest of the family staring at him. His heart had felt like it was pierced the first time he read the letter, so he kept rereading it. He wiped the tears angrily from his eyes when they caused his vision to unfocus too much.

 _A free elf_

"Harry." He heard his name called, a soft whisper coming from next to him. Ginny wrapped both her hands around his open one. He felt comfort radiate from his right hand and wash over him. He put the letter down, chancing a glance up again. This time he looked only at Ron.

A soft smile played on his lips as he gave Harry a nod that radiated understanding and respect. Harry took a breath in, feeling he should explain to the Weasley's who had kindly started some tame conversations to give them space.

'I can't take the suspense! What the bloody hell does it all mean!" George finally cried, bursting at the seams. Molly gave him a reproachful look, but was just curious enough herself to let it slip, not wanting to interrupt Harry.

"They're from Dobby. The socks, they're his possessions. He wanted… "Harry Potter and his Weezy" to have his things." He cleared his throat, trying not to let his emotions escape.

"He must have gotten the other house elves at Hogwarts to help deliver them and for some reason Kreacher as well." Hermione thought out loud, her brow slightly creasing.

Harry sat a moment, putting down the letter and picking up the sock. The memory of it brought a slight, sad smile to his face.

"He had Kreacher deliver the last one, because it was the most important." Even though his voice was small, the kitchen was silent so his voice was heard by all. His eyes swam with the memories of the past. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances and decided to move the conversation along, seeing as Harry wasn't going to on his own.

"What's so important about a sock, Harry?" Hermione asked as softly as she could.

"Its mine. Or it was." Harry quickly added, hearing his mistake. This was Dobby's sock, no longer Harry's. "It's the one I gave him in second year. Or I put it in Riddle's Diary and Malfoy unknowingly gave it to Dobby, making him…"

"Free." Ron added, happy that for even a moment a small smile came from his best mate.

"Harry dear, you better eat up before it gets cold." Mrs. Weasley said, tears in her eyes as well.

"I'm not really hungry…" He said, slowly letting the guilt and pain from Dobby's death surface again.

A rushed whisper filled his ear. "Don't you even think about retreating into yourself again Potter. We just got you back." He looked over at Ginny who had one of her fiercest looks in her eyes. He couldn't help but smile at how she always knew what he was thinking.

Not hearing this side of the conversation, Molly continued. "Nonsense, you are still much too thin. Eat up!" She clapped her hands and more food appeared in front of them all. They all slightly groaned, besides Ron, at the overabundance of food now sitting on all their plates.

Before the conversations got too rowdy again, Hermione spoke up, still using her soothing voice. "Harry, do you think you could…show us some memories of Dobby, in the pensieve you received after the Battle?"

Harry only thought a moment. "Yeah. Yeah that'd be great." He said, a real smile finally expanding from both his mouth and eyes as flashes of the memories he'd be showing everyone came into his mind, bringing with them the first bit of acceptance over a loved one's death.

The END!

 ***I feel like it might have gotten better the further I wrote. Started off pretty slow, but I'm learnin'. Rear and Review if you'd like! Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

After dinner on the day the final sock had arrived Harry had sequestered a moment by himself before he was to show everyone some memories to remember Dobby. His heart pattered faster every single time he remembered someone who had passed in the events of the past few years. He had held Dobby in his arms as he passed which couldn't be said for most of those whom Harry had loved and died. He walked over to the wardrobe in his and Ron's room and grabbed the pensieve that Severus had left him. Using his wand he drew the memories one by one of Dobby that he was now able to laugh at. With the pensieve filled with the swirling mist of his past he went to let the others know he was ready.

He found everyone in the living room, each absorbed in eah others lively conversations, likely due to the latest research projects at WWW, as he came to the last stair. He found Ginny immediately, which was just part of habit now. He was met with a smile which now reflected his own. He nodded and Ginny was the first to stand, heading his way.

"I'll go bring the pensieve down then?" He said, leaving it as a statement.

"Whenever you're ready Harry my dear." Mrs. Weasley cooed, continuing to knit in her recliner.

Hand in hand Ginny and Harry went back up to the room together. As they walked through the door, Ginny stopped and tugged on Harry's hand, making him turn to face her. Her eyes radiated comfort and love through him, and there they stood together gathering strength and ending with a gentle kiss.

"I'm ready." He said, letting go of her hand to grab the fragile pensieve with both hands. "Let's go."

With Ginny leading the way, Harry got down to the living space where everyone of the Weasleys and Hermione were gathered. He placed the ornate and delicate chalice on the center table. "Alright, I put some memories of Dobby together for us. I just thought it might be nice to remember the good.." He tapered off quietly. Everyone got up and came to the table, instinctively Ron and Hermione were side by side next to Harry and Ginny.

"Here we go then." Ginny said with a small smile and the group leaned forward together in Harry's memories.

They each saw a very young looking Harry walking into his jail of a bedroom at the Dursley's. A slight growl came from Mrs. Weasley as she saw the bars on Harry's window. Harry and Mrs. Weasley made eye contact but there was nothing but love in her eyes. They laughed as they saw Dobby snap and drop the cake on his relative's head, and even more so when they saw the horrified look on Harry's face. They watched on smiling as they saw Ron and Harry run cart first into the Platform at King's Cross when Dobby had tried to keep them from Hogwarts. The scene dissolved into the Infirmary at night where Harry was restlessly tossing back and forth after being hit with the wonky bludger during his Quidditch match. They laughed as little Harry threatened to strangle the elf for interfereing, Hermione giving him a reproachful look.

"If you liked that one 'Mione you'll love the next." Harry chuckled as the next memory came across. _It was the middle of the night or so the group thought seeing the darkness outside the dormitory windows. A bit older Harry came walking down the spiral staircase into the commons of Gryffindor tower where he saw Dobby. Everyone smiled as they saw the memory Harry smile fondly at the elf._

 _"Dobby! What are you doing in here?" Harry asked._

 _"Harry Potter, sir! Dobby is here to clean Gryffindor tower sir!" He said as he picked up remaining tea cups._

 _"Have you always cleaned these quaters Dobby?" Harry asked curiously, honestly never putting much thought into who kept the commons so clean._

 _"Oh no sir, but the other house elves refuse to come here! Two of them were set free when they accidentaly picked up socks that someone had left for them! They were most upset sir! Now all the other elves are 'fraid!"_

 _"Ughn." Harry groaned, knowing exactly who was to blame._

Meanwhile, Hermione squeaked and covered her mouth as she realized what had happened. "That was the point though right? To set them free?" She asked, looking from George to Ginny, to her best friends.

"Umm just wait for it." Harry said cautiously, motioning for them all to look back to the memory.

 _"So you have to go around and clean the entire tower alone?" Harry asked, slowly sinking into his favorite armchair._

 _"Harry Potter is kind to ask after Dobby. But no matter, Dobby takes all the left behind socks so that other elves will come back to clean."_

 _"So you're the one taking all the socks?" Harry asked, his voice slightly high at the realization._

 _"Yes, Dobby takes them."_

 _As Harry was sitting in his chair he covered his face with one hand in slight exasperation but then began to laugh. Hard. Dobby stopped what he was doing and looked over at Harry peculiarly._

 _"Is Harry Potter alright?" He asked, taking a step closer._

 _Harry kept laughing until he was all laughed out, hunched over in his chair holding his stomach. He looked up and smiled at Dobby, feeling lighter than he had in a long time. "Thank you Dobby. I'm doing much better now. Is there anything I can help you with before I head back up?" He asked the elf whose eyes went wide and then smiled._

 _"Thank you very much. Go sleep now Harry Potter!"_

 _"Goodnight Dobby." He called down the stairs he was already slowly climbing, with a smile on his face._

"Harry Potter!" Hermione roared as she went straight for him and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "You let me go on believing that S.P.E.W. was setting house elves free left and right?! How come you never told me it was all just Dobby!"

"Dobby and I thought it best not to tell you." He replied quietly, still hand in hand with Ginny. "I saw how much your organization meant to you and I hated the thought of you losing such a passion you had."

The group was silent, waiting for the reaction they thought they knew was coming. Hermione didn't say a thing, she just stepped right up to him and hugged him. They stood for a moment and broke apart as the last of the few memories started to play on.

"This last one is my favorite, and I think most important. The way we should always remember Dobby." Harry introduced the memory with a ghost of a smile.

 _"Let us hope that Harry Potter will always be around to save the day." They heard the low and ferocious remark growled out from Lucius Malfoy who was as close to Harry's face as possible without touching it. As he turned to leave_ the group of on-lookers were surprised to hear what came next from little Harry, _"Don't worry, I will be."_

"Harry my boy! You had a death wish even at the spry age of 12 didn't you?" George asked, amusement sparkling in his eyes. Everyone smiled.

"He was asking for it." Harry simply replied, a smile creeping up on his face too.

 _Harry walked back into Professor Dumbledore's office and asked him to keep the diary. They saw the twinkle in the Professor's eyes that they all had missed for some time now. Harry was then running down the hallway to keep up with Lucius. They saw Harry hand him the diary and then Lucius handing it to Dobby._

 _"Open it!" Harry whispered urgently to Dobby as his master started walking away._

Everyone watching the memory had unshed tears in their eyes, besides Hermione who was fully shedding tears now.

 _'Master has presented Dobby with clothing. Dobby is freeee!"_

 _"Preposterous! I did no such-" He looked down as Harry picked up his pant leg. "You lost me my servant!"_

There was a collective gasp as everyone watched Lucius Malfoy draw his wand on an unarmed second year. "Harry!" A couple exclaimed unsure of what would happen next.

 _"Dobby will NOT let harm come to Harry Potter. Dobby is free!" The elf snapped his fingers and Lucius was sent flying almost completely down the corridor. The memory dissolved on the final image of Harry and Dobby smiling together._

Harry looked around at everyone standing side-by-side in their circle. Each and every person looked up at him and sent a gratifying nod or smile.

"Thanks Harry. Those were all wonderful memories." Ginny said, giving his hand a squeeze. Mrs. Weasley was already on her way over to give Harry a short but firm hug. Ron clapped him on the back and everyone took their spots again. It was quiet for a few minutes but things became lively again when questions were asked or others' memories were told. All in all, everyone went to bed that night with a smile on their face and a fond memory on their mind.


End file.
